Fix You
by Ezri Rei
Summary: Allen almost made it. Just a few more months and Children Services would have finally been off his tail...and Cross had to go and get thrown in jail. Allen is sent far away from home to an uncle that never cared before. How's he supposed to deal with someone who's hated him since he was born? Who is this boy that Neah cares for a lot more than him? Is this jealousy he's feeling?
1. Chapter 1

**Not only am I in a writing mood, but I feel like posting all these stories so that I don't lose them since they're saved on FFN and the stupid site has a knack for deleting documents if you don't pay attention to them for 90 days xD 90 days can go by surprisingly fast...**

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><p>It all started when Marian Cross disappeared.<p>

This Marian Cross person, was quite an unusual man. He didn't know much of respect, yet he had so many connections around the world it was ridiculous. Perhaps he threatened them, or perhaps he bribed them with money he didn't have. Anyways, this Marian Cross person happened to be the guardian of a seventeen year old boy named Allen Walker. He had the responsibility to raise him right ever since his friend, who happened to be Allen's father, died of a vicious disease; however, Cross was not a very responsible person. He would travel from place to place with Allen under his wing, so it was impossible for them to actually stay one place for long. You would wonder how Allen even managed to stay in school. Then, one day, they finally decided to settle down in a nice place in London. Allen asked multiple times when they were leaving, but Cross never told him that they were...

...and then the bloody bastard disappeared.

This left Allen to watch the house and the dog all by himself. It was a little after his fifteenth birthday that it happened and Cross had been missing for _two _years. He _did _manage to send a few letters to him, just to show that he was still alive of course. In just a few more months, Allen would be eighteen so it wouldn't exactly be abnormal that he lived by himself. He's had to make countless saves, whether he was explaining that his guardian was spending time with a friend, or out on a business trip, the excuses were constant. He never could catch a break. For some reason Children Services was all on Cross' ass. It made Allen wonder what he could've possibly done _before _he met him. Or maybe Cross was _running _from them too and not only the debt collectors. Still, it was starting to become quite tedious making up all these different excuses.

It was then that Children Services appeared on his doorstep one day with hungry eyes and the news of 'Cross is in jail.' Allen just gave them a stunned expression. Cross had _never _got caught doing _anything _wrong, so what exactly did he even do? He asked about what Cross did, but Allen never got an answer from them. What he _did _get was that Cross was all the way across the country in prison. Which meant that Allen wouldn't be able to visit him...and that kinda sucked because he just felt _so _curious as to what Cross could be caught doing. _He probably tried picking up a prostitute or something...that's illegal, right? _The seventeen year old wondered. _If only he could've gotten caught _after _I turned eighteen! This wouldn't be happening then...damn it, Master, just what did you do? _

That was the day that Allen knew he'd regret not chasing after the bastard.

You see, Allen only had a few other relatives that he was close to, but, they were all connected to a guy named Neah Walker. Neah Walker happened to be the brother of Allen's father, even though Allen never saw him when he was younger. Wait, yes he did...he saw him twice. Once on the day he came to visit Mana at Christmas and once at the funeral whenever Mana was buried. He never made contact with Neah, but they both knew each other existed. After the funeral was over, Neah confronted Allen and told him _straight to his face _that he was not Neah's problem. Mind you, Allen was only ten years old when he heard those words. He was confused about _what _he had done. He never thought it to be his fault that Mana died since it was of a disease, so why was Neah mad at _him? _Allen's heart had already been shattered by his father's death so it was impossible for him to cry any more tears. He just accepted that Neah would never be his uncle and moved on.

...and then Cross disappeared.

Allen found himself blaming Cross for all of this as he stepped off the airplane and looked around the airport. If Cross hadn't disappeared, then he wouldn't have to fly to _America _to see his non-supportive uncle. Couldn't they have _at least _gave him to a random family? Allen would rather live with a complete stranger than Neah. Then again, in a way, Neah _was _a complete stranger to him. He looked down at the paper and sighed, crumpling it up. He had Neah's address just in case the man didn't show up, but how the hell was Allen supposed to get there? _Perhaps they have cabs here..._Allen thought as he wheeled his too-big-to-even-exist suitcase. He didn't know how Cross managed to get a hold of something so big; but it was nice that Cross even _cared, _even if he didn't show it. _Wait, don't you need money for cabs? _Allen wondered. _The only money I have is for emergencies..._

Well, it was a good thing Allen was used to walking.

When Allen first arrived at the airport, it was around one in the afternoon. When Allen _finally _made it to Neah's house after getting lost about five times, it was seven o' clock in the evening. Allen had been walking around for _six _hours, and even though it might sound like he was tired, Allen was actually quite fueled. Fueled by anger that is. Neah should've at _least _picked him up from the airport. Did his uncle hope he'd get hit by a car or something? Most likely. Allen finally found the house and leaned his suitcase on it's feet before knocking—not banging, _definitely _not banging—loudly on the front door. He was so itched to use the doorbell that said 'please don't ring this', but he kept reminding himself that if Neah was going to be nice to him, he'd have to be nice back. Allen would treat him like Neah treated him. Allen huffed and knocked even louder again before crossing his arms.

When the man answered the door, Allen resisted the urge to scoff at his untidy black hair and disheveled clothes. They weren't disheveled as if he'd been running around, more like he'd just been sitting around all day. By the looks of the living room behind the man, Allen saw that his house was quite—putting it nicely—trashed. Neah gave him a puzzled look and narrowed his eyes at Allen. He rubbed his eyes and narrowed them again. "Do I know you?" Neah asked and Allen couldn't even resist glaring at him. "Who are you?" He asked.

"Perhaps you didn't get the emails, or the calls..." Allen started, picking up his suitcase and pushing his way into the house. "...or perhaps you didn't even care to _answer _them, but _I _am your new..." Allen paused, setting his suitcase down and taking the time to scowl at all the mess around him. "...room mate. Yes, that sounds a bit better than what those people called it." Allen muttered bitterly.

"Excuse me, but I _still _don't know who you are." Neah replied, scowling at the younger boy. Allen turned his eyes away from the mess and looked his uncle straight in the eye.

"Allen _Walker _ring a bell to you?" He asked with a growl. Neah deadpanned and stared at Allen for a long time.

"Um, yes, but who are _you?" _Neah asked again. Allen seethed at him. _What, is this guy an idiot or something? _

"I _am _Allen." He snapped.

"What? Then why are you here?" Neah asked accusingly.

"Oh trust me, I don't want to be here as much as you want me to." Allen spat. "I'm here because I _have _to be. Remember that."

"What about Cross?" He questioned.

"Is this an interrogation now? Perhaps you would _know _that if you answered your phone." Allen muttered and picked up his suitcase handle and gave Neah an expectant look, which he returned. Allen rolled his eyes. "He's in jail."

"J-jail?!" Neah asked incredulously.

"Yes, in jail." Allen confirmed. "Unfortunately enough, _you _are the only other relative I have." Neah sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. _He's going to be a handful to take care of..._he thought bitterly. _How is he Mana's son anyways? He's not polite or kind at all..._Neah thought bitterly.

"Well, I don't exactly have a _nice _room to stay in—"

"That much was obvious." Allen interrupted.

"...but I _do _have a guest bedroom that I usually used for storage..." He continued.

"Lovely." Allen quipped. "So where is this _guest bedroom?" _

Neah led him to the room and almost felt bad for Allen..._almost. _Allen gave the room a look of horror and shook his head. He shoo'd Neah away and the man was happy to comply, leaving Allen in the pigsty that was labeled as a room. He looked around at the huge mess. _Now, where could I possibly put all this stuff? _Allen wondered and looked over at the closet. He walked over and smirked when he found boxes. _Bingo. I'll just go through and label all of this. _He thought and started going through the mess. He didn't know _how _much time had passed when he was finally able to discover that there was a _bed _under all this mess. He was beyond hungry, but he felt determined to finish cleaning. It was around ten o' clock when he was almost done. There were four large boxes now sitting against the wall, labeled with their items. He paused when he came upon a photograph and pulled it away to look at it.

There were a lot of people in the picture. Allen could only recognize Neah and Mana from the picture. The rest must have been his family. Of course Allen wasn't in the picture, and Mana looked healthy. _This was probably before he fell sick..._Allen thought. _But...then...where am I? _He wondered, not seeing himself anywhere in the background. Allen sighed, knowing that he probably wasn't even born then. _I wonder if it was a mistake...me being born...why didn't Mana want to abort me? Didn't Cross say he's aborted children before me? _Allen thought glumly and put the photograph away in a box he'd label as 'memorable'. Once the floor was finally free of all the items, he swept it with a vacuum he found in the closet and sorted everything out before crawling into bed. He didn't even unpack his suitcase before he fell asleep.

For once, Allen woke up a _lot _earlier than he would've expected. Usually, Allen woke up at seven in the morning, but today, he woke up two hours earlier. He wondered if it could've been because of the nightmare he had. It was quite a terrifying one, not that he could remember what it was. Allen woke up and expected to be back in his room at home. He looked around the unfamiliar bedroom and sighed, remembering all that happened yesterday. He paced around the room for quite awhile until he decided that Neah wouldn't be awake and snuck into the living room, instantly scowling.

For now, he ignored his hunger pains and started cleaning up the living room. He was _not _going to be living in a pigsty. It only took two hours to clean the living room and the kitchen and Allen felt a bit terrified to go into the bathrooms. It was inevitable though. He'd have to go in there someday. So, Allen mustered up his courage and quickly opened the door. Surprisingly enough, the bathroom was a _lot _cleaner than he expected. Shrugging, Allen left the bathroom and warily made his way into the basement. He gawked at the huge room. It looked more like a hangout area than a basement. There was a flatscreen placed in front of three couches and three different game systems in the cupboard under it. There was an entire stack of games and in the other cupboards were controllers. A little more to the left there was a large piano that reminded him of the one Mana used to play with him. Shaking his head, Allen walked back upstairs and started on the dishes.

Once he was done cleaning up every single little thing, like vacuuming everywhere, cleaning off counters, and dusting the furniture, it was around eight o' clock when he finally finished tidying up. He frowned when he remembered how Mana and sometimes even Cross would praise him for doing such things. The boy shook his head. He was seventeen now, he didn't need to be treated like he was fourteen. Cleaning the house he was living in was _his _responsibility. His stomach growled and he walked over to the fridge.

Of _course _there wasn't anything to eat.

Sighing, Allen thought that maybe he'd just wait until Neah was hungry to see what they'd be having. Of course, Neah would have to wake up then. That could take forever. Searching around, Allen spotted a notepad and walked over to it. He found a pen nearby and wrote a little note. He still had some leftover money from when he gambled a few nights ago. Or as Allen referred to it: emergency money. This counted as an emergency. So, Allen walked outside and looked around. He opened the garage and, to his horror, it was a bigger mess than the living room and kitchen put together. He barely managed to step through it. He found a bike with a basket on it in the back _and _the front. Once he made it out of the garage a loud bark was heard and was shoved to the ground by a large golden dog. Allen stared at the dog with disbelief.

"Tim?" He questioned. The dog barked in acknowledgment. He told the children services to take him to Cross...yes, he was in jail, but he was pretty sure that they said something about a kennel there (weird, right?). Allen slowly reached for the collar and pulled a small note out of it. It was a note from Cross, apologizing. Apologizing was not something Cross did...he looked up and saw a girl standing in front of him with an awkward smile. Timcanpy crawled off of him and Allen immediately stood up. "Good morning..." He greeted.

"Hi. Um, Mr. Cross told us to deliver this dog to you so..." She mumbled, hoping that Allen would get the message that Cross said he'd get.

How the hell did he manage to do it that quickly? Cross' talents were quite unreasonable at times...

"Oh, okay. Thank you." He thanked a bit uncertainly.

"You're welcome...so...what are you doing in Mr. Walker's garage?" She questionably. Allen pursed his lips.

"We're going to be living together for awhile." Allen explained.

This girl _obviously _didn't know that Cross used to be his guardian...and if he was in a completely different country, how did this girl know to deliver Timcanpy to him? _Oh yeah...Cross did say he had 'connections'. _Allen thought to himself. "Oh..." She said quietly. "Well, um...I'm gonna go now..." She said and started walking away.

"Thanks again!" Allen chirped and let Timcanpy in the house. He smiled down at the dog lovingly. He missed him so much, even if it had only been a day...maybe not even that...it still bugged him though, how Cross was able to send Timcanpy _and _a note with him...then again, the handwriting was different from what Allen was used to. He just suspected that Cross was just drunk but-Allen slapped his forehead. God, all this jet lag was getting to his head. It was impossible for Cross to be drunk if he was in _bloody jail. _Then again, Cross had his ways...Allen shook his head, his mind was going far off topic. "Tim, be a good boy while I'm gone. I'm going to go get you some food." Allen said and ruffled the dog's fur. Timcanpy barked approvingly. "Stay quiet now, Neah's sleeping." He shushed. The dog whined and trotted over to the couch before hopping up and laying down. "Good boy." Allen praised and left the house. He closed the garage and propped himself on the bike before riding off.

Luckily, Neah lived near a dollar general. Allen hopped off the bike (it wasn't really his, he found it in the garage) and laid it against the back wall, hoping no one would take it. It didn't take long for Allen to gather up everything he needed. After a half hour of shopping, Allen took the cart outside and piled the bags up in th baskets. _I swear if something falls out..._Allen threatened and rode off. _I really hope the eggs don't shatter..._he thought and rode as gently as he could back to the house. It was around nine o' clock when Allen finally made it back to the house. He took extra caution around he roads and sidewalks so it took a little bit longer than usual to get back.

Not that he would know that since he didn't _live _here.

Still, the ride seemed like it would be short. Once he entered the house (which was, thank _god, _unlocked. He didn't remember if he locked the door since he was used to doing it with his own house so much), he walked straight to the kitchen and screamed when someone grabbed him, immediately punching the person in the gut. "Mother of _fuck." _

He just punched Neah in the gut.

...and kind of enjoyed it...

"Uh...oops...don't grab me like that!" Allen hissed.

"You're telling me! Don't just _walk in! _I thought I was getting _robbed! _You scared the living _shit _out of me!" He growled.

"Um, I _live _here now?"

"...fuck." Neah cursed again. Allen scoffed. "Okay, but that doesn't mean you bring a damn _dog _in my house! He was lounging on the furniture!"

"He wasn't hurting anyone." Allen reasoned.

"He was dirtying my couch."

"Timcanpy is not a dirty dog." Neah blinked at Allen's words.

"Wait, that's Timcanpy?" The elder questioned and Allen rolled his eyes, unpacking the groceries. "...how did you get those...you didn't steal my wallet, did you?"

"If I knew where it was, then I probably would've." Allen mumbled.

"What was that?"

"Nothing." Allen muttered. "I had some emergency money leftover." He explained, keeping the eggs out and looking around the kitchen for some damned pans.

"And where did you acquire such..._emergency money?" _

"...does it _really _matter?"

"Yes, because you might be a criminal." Allen let out a loud laugh at Neah's assumption. He was a bit right, but seriously...

"You _do _realize who I was left in care of, right?" He asked rhetorically and heard Neah grumble.

"Exactly. I don't feel comfortable knowing that-"

"Knowing what? That I have to do illegal things to get money because none of my real family ever wanted anything to do with me?" Allen asked accusingly. Neah went _silent. _He didn't speak for the next ten minutes.

"...the pans are beside the stove..." He informed and Allen blinked before searching the cupboards and making a cute 'aha!' sound. The two of them were completely silent and neither of them said a word to each other as Allen fried up an entire dozen of eggs. He didn't mean to cook _that _many but Neah just _wouldn't go away _and he figured if he kept his back to him then Neah would leave him alone.

That didn't work out as he planned to...

"How was it?...living with Cross, I mean." Neah explained quickly, not wanting Allen to explain about god knows what...

"Why does it matter? It's not like you care...god, I really hope you're going to eat these because I made way too many." Allen grumbled and fixed himself a plate (he took more than half of the dozen) and walked passed Neah coldly to his new room. Neah sighed and looked at the batch of freshly cooked eggs.

Communicating with Allen was going to be a _lot _harder than he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you OtakuShipping, Andune Carnesir, and candy crackpot for reviewing!**

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><p>The next few weeks followed just the same as the day Allen arrived. He seemed to only appear a few times a day and only for a few seconds before he was gone again. The only thing that really changed besides Allen's presence and the actual eating of three times a day, was the cleanliness of the house. Neah was not a clean freak, in fact, he was the complete opposite. He didn't like admitting to it, but his house was usually a complete mess. Every few months, he would invite some friends over to help him clean until it was squeaky clean, but within a week, it'd be all dirtied again. However, somehow, his house was completely clean no matter how many clothes he threw on the floor. He often trashed his house accidentally by throwing trash from cereal boxes or popcorn bags on the floor while he was watching TV; but no matter how dirty the house was by night, in the morning, it would be good as new.<p>

Feeling that he secluded himself from the world ever since Allen moved in, Neah invited some friends to come over.

That hadn't been one of his brightest ideas.

He only intended to invite Lenalee over, but then her persistent friend, Lavi, was...well, _persistent _and in the end, her, Lavi, Kanda, Daisya, Marie, and Chaoji all came over. Honestly, Neah thought that Allen had went out to 'make money' again. Little did he know, Allen was in his room sleeping peacefully. It'd been a long month and going out in the cold everyday to get earnings and wait in line to go inside...well, he caught a small cold and it only grew worse since he didn't get as much rest as a sick person needed. He managed to hide it from Neah whether it was because the man was an oblivious moron or he was sneaky...well, it didn't really matter, as long as he didn't know about it. Why? Well, Allen's pride wouldn't let him be seen like this.

He'd find out today, that was for sure.

When all six were in his living room, things got pretty crowded and he had to move them all to the dining room, which was a lot more bigger than his living room for whatever reason. There was a soft thump that echoed from Allen's room, but the only ones who managed to hear it was Marie and Kanda. Kanda excused himself to the 'bathroom' and took his sheathed sword with him. The others didn't mind his strange behavior (except Marie, that is) because Kanda was...strange. No one could ever tell what was on his mind anyways. Neah thought about Allen and wondered whether he should introduce him or not. It seemed like he wouldn't really care about them...then again, if they didn't know about him being here then there'd be trouble sooner or later. "Ah, that's right, I need to inform you all of something; it's probably the reason why I haven't really been out and about as much...you see-"

Neah froze, hearing the sound of a...actually, quite high pitched scream.

Then it all fell into place. Kanda took his sword...Allen's room was on the way to the bathroom...

"SHIT!" He cursed and bolted out of the kitchen, knocking a few things down. Everyone looked at each other before running off after him. Neah paled when he saw Kanda holding his unsheathed sword against Allen's neck, who was breathing a little too quickly. He looked terrified. Neah shouted and rushed forward and yanked Kanda off of the younger teen. Allen breathed out a gasp and scooted away up against the wall.

"Are you bloody _insane?!" _Allen shouted.

"Ha...ha...guys, this is...my nephew..."

"HE'S GOT A BLOODY SWORD ON HIM!" Allen screamed, angry that Neah completely ignored the face that Allen almost had his throat slit by a stranger.

"Technically, it's not really bloody-"

"IT'S AN EXPRESSION!"

"Wow, even Lenalee didn't scream that much when Kanda had her at sword's length." Daisya whispered to Lavi and the two of them laughed.

"Now, Allen, let's just calm down now..."

"C-calm _down?! _That _wanker _had a sword at my throat! I could've been _killed _and you want me to _calm down?" _His voice cracked.

"Pffffft..." Lavi held a hand to his mouth and Lenalee let out a giggle.

"The _fuck _did you just call me?" Kanda growled and stepped forward threateningly, only to be held back by Marie. Neah tried his best not to smile at Allen's language, he was holding back his laughter as much as he could but...wanker? Really? He held a hand to his mouth and couldn't contain the giggles coming from his lips and soon enough, the entire hallway erupted with laughter.

"Wh..."

Allen almost _died_ and they were _laughing? _

"What's so funny?!" He shouted and Marie sighed.

"You said wanker." The older man explained.

"How is that funny?" Allen asked weakly.

"I believe because it's an _English _slang word. You're English and...it's just amusing, I suppose." He explained calmly. Allen could hear a few mocking his accent and felt his face go red with embarrassment. So what if he was English? Really, what was so funny? He's been made fun of his accent before but this...this was ridiculous...he glared at Kanda and Kanda sent him a murderous one right back. He huffed and looked away.

"S-sorry, really, I don't mean to laugh...b-but..." Neah wiped a tear from his eye.

"Yeah, yeah, like you don't." Allen seethed and gulped, feeling a cough coming on. He made sure to look well dressed and to comb his earlier-messy hair. He even put some concealer on to cover up the bags under his eyes and for what? To come out of his room and feel embarrassed? He stood up angrily and stormed to his room, slamming the door. He paused, looking at his window as he let out a few bad coughs. A terrible idea formed in his mind and, without hesitation, he opened the window and jumped out.

Back in the hallway, after Neah had gotten his act together, he looked around. "Where'd he go?"

"He jumped out the window." Marie informed and everyone looked at him incredulously. He smiled and tapped the headphones around his ears that helped him hear better. Being blind did have it's advantages.

"...y-you're joking..." Neah stuttered and slammed the door open, only to see the window open and the room empty. "The one time he comes out and now he's gone again." He mumbled to himself.

"Didn't help that you all mocked him for something he couldn't help. What a bother, he was sick." Marie said darkly.

"What? Sick?" Neah blinked.

"You didn't know? He does live here, doesn't he? By the sound of his coughs, it's been there for awhile." He mumbled.

"Oh lord, now I have to find him. Wouldn't want Children Services on _my _ass." He scowled and hurried to the door. He turned to the others. "I'm really sorry, it seems I invited you over for nothing..."

"We'll help!" Lenalee offered cheerfully and skipped over towards him, her long hair waving as she did.

"I didn't agree to that." Kanda grumbled.

"You're the one that scared him off for the most part." She countered, putting her hands on her hips. "Now you'll help find them. Or shall I tell my brother that you're trying to slit more girls' throats?"

"He isn't a girl!"

"My brother doesn't know that." She said with a twisted smile. Daisya chuckled at him. Kanda made sure to shut him up soon by smacking the back of his head.

"...thanks guys." Neah said, smiling at them.

Meanwhile, Allen was shivering against the Autumn air, wishing he at least grabbed a coat. He did have some money at least. There wasn't a time when Allen didn't have money on him. He sighed and watched brownish orange leaves blow past him. The entire neighborhood had raked their yards, their leaves at the end of their property where they didn't have to mess with them. The wind blowing felt like wind you got in the winter time and you could see people of all sorts, couples, teenagers, elders, all huddled up in their warm clothing as they walked down the street. Allen envied them for their warmth. He slipped into a nearby cafe named 'Deity' and sat down at a table, running a hand through his hair.

"Good afternooooholy shit, you look terrible." A waitress wearing a lavender purple shirt commented. Her green name-tag read: Fou.

"Thanks for rubbing it in." Allen muttered.

"Flu, eh? Or just a cold? We have some chicken noodle soup on special today."

"Sure." Allen mumbled, not really caring as long as he could stay indoors...and away from his uncle.

"Wow, such enthusiasm." She commented with a smile. He glared at her and stood up, figuring that maybe the cafe a few blocks down would be kinder. Her smile became forced and she put her hand on his shoulder, forcing him to sit down. "I'll have that soup in a little bit." She stated and walked off. Allen scowled, wondering if that was even aloud as he looked around. The other girls that worked here wore skirts or dress pants, but she seemed to stick with jeans. _Oh. A rulebreaker. Fantastic. _He thought and let his head slam down on the table. He didn't even care that some customers looked over at him. A few minutes later and there was a clatter on the table he sat at. He looked down and nearly choked on his own air when he saw her with _two _bowls of soup and she sat right across from him.

"What are you _doing?" _He asked and she smiled, pushing his bowl over to him.

"Taking a break, what are _you _doing?" She retorted.

"Hiding." He replied and pulled the bowl towards him.

"Hiding from who? You know, everyone in this town knows each other and since I've never seen you before, you must be knew. That means you've gotta be careful who you talk badly about. Just saying. What's your name anyhow?" She asked before shoving a mouthful of soup in her mouth, ignoring the searing hot soup burning her tongue.

"Allen Walker."

Fou spat out whatever soup she hadn't swallowed and Allen looked away, glaring outside. Great. So she knew who his uncle was. What if they got along? If everyone knew everyone here, then- "You're related to _that _jerk? Wow, sucks to be you, no wonder you're out here." Allen felt relief flood through his veins. Okay. So Fou and Neah didn't get along, but he had to wonder...why?

"Yeah..." Allen trailed off, humming to himself. "Of course I've only stayed at his house for a few weeks and we don't talk much."

"A few weeks? Where were you before?"

"Living with my father's friend."

"Cross? Oh yeah, I heard him rambling on about that a few months ago. He was drunk, of course. Looked pathetic." Fou informed and tapped her chin. "Your father was his brother right?" Allen nodded shortly. "Yeah...he died seven years ago then...but why are you at your uncle's now?"

"Because Cross was thrown in jail."

"Wow...that really sucks." She paused. "When did he get thrown in jail?"

"Hell if I know, he left me to take care of the house two years ago. It was the first I heard of him since he left."

"God _damn. _Wait, how old _are _you?"

"Seventeen." Allen sighed. "If only he could've waited just two more months to get thrown in jail."

"I'm guessing you turn eighteen in December?"

"Yeah. In exactly two months." Fou, out of curiosity and the fact she didn't know what day it was, looked over at the calendar hanging on the wall. Black, blue and red x's were crossed out on all the days previously, overwriting whatever important was going on on those days and who worked.

"Huh. So you were born on Christmas? Cool." She mused.

"Oh yes, quite a little Christmas miracle _I _turned out to be." Allen mumbled bitterly, slurping his soup cautiously to see how hot it was. Fou pursed her lips.

"You turn eighteen in two months and Children Services sent you over _now? _I swear, the smarts of those people are not right."

"You've encountered them before?" Allen questioned and she nodded.

"Wasn't exactly on good terms with my parents, ya see. They thought I was nuts and tried beating me. 'Course it didn't work out since they're weak and all. So, a friend of mine contacted them and they tried to make it better. Of course they failed. So, I just decided to move in with my friend. He runs this shop, by the way. I'm just an assistant actually. Pay's pretty great though. You say you've been here for a few weeks, right? Got a job?"

"I find my own way to pay for things." Allen answered simply and swallowed some more soup. It was pretty good. It actually made him feel a lot better even though his head still hurt.

"Oh?" Fou asked, crossing her arms, "and what are these 'ways'?" Allen simply smiled.

"Oh, just usual things I do."

"Uhuh. You're not very convincing."

"Really?" Allen asked, feigning innocence. Fou rolled her eyes. She then spotted a certain redhead across the street. Lenalee and Kanda were with him.

"You're Neah's nephew, right? Have you met Lavi, Lenalee, Kanda, Marie, and Chaoji?" She asked, watching them as they showed the employee of the café across from theirs a poster. The employee called the manager over and he looked at the poster before tilting his head and pointing over at the Deity restaurant.

"Uh...I might have met them this morning? One of them held a sword to my throat..."

"That's Kanda." Fou mumbled, watching carefully as the three walked towards the café.

"Yeah...then I called him a wanker and everyone laughed at me..." Allen muttered and Fou snorted.

"You called him a wanker? High five." Allen grinned at her as they slapped hands. "Anyways, you might want to hide because Neah's little underlings are on their way to get you." Allen blinked and looked behind them.

"What? He's actually chasing after me? Why the hell would he do that?" Allen asked, rubbing his stuffy nose with a napkin. Fou shrugged.

"Does he know you're sick?"

"No..."

"Then who knows. I have an idea! Come with me." She said, dragging him out of the chair.

"What? Where are we going?" Allen questioned as she pulled him towards a door that had an 'Employees Only' sign on it. "Um...I'm not allowed in there."

"It'll be fine!" She insisted and shoved him through the swinging door.

"Ahh!" Allen shouted and froze whenever some employees that were cooking looked over questionably. "Um...hi..."

Fou rolled her eyes and headed back to their table, stacking the two bowls they had together as Lavi walked in triumphantly. He saw Fou and his eyes beamed. "Fou!"

"Hello to you too, annoying rabbit."

"Gee, now you sound like Yuu. Anyways, Neah's looking for his nephew, have you seen anyone like-"

"Neah has a nephew?" Fou asked with disbelief. Fake disbelief, but disbelief nonetheless.

"Yeah, like I was saying...he looks like this." Lavi said, holding out a poster of Allen smiling directly at the camera. She furrowed her eyebrows. How did they even manage to get him smiling was the question.

"How did you even get that?"

"Neah contacted his old school and it turned out that they had school IDs or something there and they sent us his picture." Lavi replied. "Have you seen him?"

"Nope."

"Really? But the guy across the street said that he came in here..." The redhead said, frowning.

"Maybe he came in for a little warmth and left? I don't know, I haven't seen him."

"Huh...oh well...we look elsewhere then!" Lavi said and marched out into the cold again. Lenalee and Kanda begrudgingly followed. Fou wiped her brow and looked back at the door that Allen had disappeared to. She hummed and swung the door open, deadpanning at the mess before her. Jerry, one of the Black Order's cooks that had transferred over since Deity needed help that day, was apologizing to Allen, who was sitting on the floor covered in...cake?

"What happened?" She asked lamely.

"Well, I was just about to give this cake to Bak because he seemed _so _stressed and then I saw this cutie and dumped it on him! It was an accident, but don't worry, darling, I'm sure there are plenty of spare clothes around here. We'll get you all washed up. Fou, darling, don't we have a shower somewhere in this place?"

"Yeah, out back but I highly doubt Allen wants to go out there covered in cake." She said, helping Allen up. She leaned over and licked Allen's cake-covered cheek and hummed. Allen blushed at her actions, looking at her incredulously. "I think it need a little more strawberry."

"Alright, hun! I'll have that cake recreated and whipped up soon!"

"You better hurry before Bak starts breaking out." She scolded and threw a towel at Allen. The orange haired girl then stuck a wet rag under the faucet and threw it at him.

"...thanks." He mumbled, wiping his face.

"So you're not showing your face around your uncle for awhile, right? How 'bout you come over to my house and camp with me? I'm sure Bak won't mind."

"I don't know...I have a few things I need to do tonight..."

"No? Well, don't say I didn't try and help."

"Thanks anyways." He smiled.

"Right." She paused and let a smile creep on her face. "If you apply here I may be nice enough to give you some new clothes~" Allen deadpanned.

"No thanks. I'll go home covered in cake."

"What's with you and not wanting to get a job anyways?" Allen shrugged at her question.

"It's harder than the way I get money. Not to mention you have to work your arse off the whole day whereas I simply sit there and smile for what I do."

"...what _do _you do?" She asked suspiciously.

"That's for me to know and you to never find out." Allen replied with a smile. She crossed her arms and glared.

"I'm not satisfied."

"Sorry, there isn't anyway I can satisfy you then." He replied and started wiping at his clothes. "I should probably get back and sneak in through a window or something..." He mumbled, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"_Or _you can stay here and hang out."

"Nah, too tired. Besides, I'd probably get someone sick..." He pointed out.

"Probably. Well then if you're not going to register, then get out of my store!" She huffed, pushing him out the doorway.

"Shouldn't I pay my bill? For the soup?"

"Nah, Jerry was the one who insisted. He offered to pay for it too."

"Oh...I don't want to impose-"

"Nah, you're fine. Jerry's always like that with everyone he meets. Usually he works at the Black Order though so you probably won't see him much here."

"The Black Order?" Allen questioned curiously. He remembered Cross mentioning that before...but where?

"Yeah, we have a lot of different restaurants. We're all branched off from one another, but the Black Order is the main branch. It's a weird restaurant process thing. Bak is the one who made Deity as another branch of the Black Order. He's one of Komui's best friends actually."

"...who?"

"...don't even worry about it." She dismissed. "Your soup's free, now get out of here, you're scaring my customers." She said in a final tone and shoved him outside. He stood there, covered in cake, looking back at the café with a small smile.

"Allen! There you are!" Allen's smile was wiped clean off his face when he heard the sound of Neah's voice. Said man ran over and stopped in front of him, kneeling over to catch his breath. He was most definitely not fit. Allen voiced his thoughts. "Yeah...I...usually...coop myself up in the house...so...not very fit..." He wheezed. He paused and straightened up, looking at Allen's clothes oddly. "Is that cake?"

"Um...yeah..." He mumbled awkwardly, coughing into his glove.

"That definitely doesn't sound good! Come on, let's go back."

Allen wasn't sure why he even followed Neah home, but he did. As soon as he did, he walked past Lenalee, who was waiting anxiously inside, and went straight to his room. Neah became worried that Allen would jump out of the window again and tiptoed towards his room, sliding the door open by just a little and peeking inside. His eyes widened at what he saw. Allen was standing in front of the full-body mirror Neah had stored in there and was holding out his left arm, staring a it for a long time. It was a dark, charcoal black color. It went all the way up his arm and ended at his shoulder, where an odd design followed. He sighed and slipped on a long sleeve shirt and then pulled on some gloves before sitting on the bed, placing his head between his hands to think. Neah felt like he just saw something that Allen never would have wanted him or anyone else to see.

"What are you doing?" Lenalee whispered beside him and Neah's eyes widened. He almost shouted had it not been for the fact he was intruding in Allen's business so he spun around and covered her mouth. Lenalee didn't seem amused by this at all. He shushed her and then dragged her back to the living room, looking guilty to hell. "Were you snooping?" She asked accusingly.

"I thought he was going to jump out the window again!" Neah defended. "But...I probably saw something I shouldn't have...anyways, have you called Lavi and the others?"

"Yeah. Kanda said he had to take Daisya to work and Marie went with them but he's probably going home after and Kanda said he wasn't coming back."

"Eh? So it's just going to be you and Lavi?"

"Well...more like just Lavi. My brother just texted me and said that he wanted me home before three since we're going out to lunch."

"Awe, okay...maybe next time, huh?"

"Yeah." She said with a smile and texted her brother to come pick her up. He waved her goodbye and Lavi rushed into the driveway, slamming into her on the way. Neah watched as he helped Lenalee up (with, most likely, an apology) and ran up to Neah's front step with a grin on his face.

"So what are we going to do today? Movies? Bowling? Slumber party?" He asked excitedly and looked past Neah to see Allen walking through the hallway to the kitchen. He stopped briefly and glared at Lavi before continuing his small adventure to the kitchen. Lavi tilted his head and Neah looked behind him to see that no one was there.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, but Lavi wasn't paying any attention. He knew that look, the feeling of it anyways. He used to have it on his own face at some point. The look was a mixture of sadness and envy. Lavi pursed his lips, thinking about that.

Was Allen jealous of him?


End file.
